He’s fine.
Good as new.
All smiles.
These are the answers I’ve been giving all week as people have reached out. Social media spread the word that our boy landed in the hospital over the weekend and people were worried.
We were so confused that Dan and I didn’t really have much time to worry.
Over the last 6 weeks Jack’s had many sick days. Some cold symptoms, a few vomit days and random spiking fevers. We managed to keep everything under control thanks to stress dosing his steroids and over-the-counter medication. We did take him to the doctor’s office a couple of times and also visited the local urgent care, but nobody seemed particularly worried. They ruled out the usual suspects – COVID, Flu, Strep and finally prescribed a round of antibiotics which we gave him and it seemed to resolve whatever was going on.
Then Jack spiked another fever last Thursday. We called his doctor who asked us to come in for some bloodwork. The results led to a call no parent wants. We were told to go to the ER. Now. Something was wrong. We were told his white blood count was 32 — dangerously high.
Dan and I didn’t pause. I guess it’s some sort of muscle memory that takes over when you’ve been a hospital parent. We went to the ER, described his symptoms, and started educating everyone about ALD. They started running tests – bloodwork, urinalysis, x-ray, CAT scan. As the hours ticked by, the doctors ruled out a ton of things, but by the afternoon they all agreed that we needed to be admitted, “Just to be safe”.
By this point Jack was feeling great. His fever was gone, and he was really enjoying his time with doctors and nurses and a marathon of Friends. He didn’t seem the least bit upset by the news that we were being admitted. Dan and I were less than excited.
Sleeping in a chair is not something I’ve missed. Neither are the bells and whistles constantly signaling on a hospital floor. But, getting news over and over that test results were normal kept us together.
They sent us home on Saturday afternoon with no answers. The hope is that whatever it was self-resolved. We do have an appointment with an infectious disease doctor in a couple of weeks, just to be safe.
So Folks – Jack is fine. Good as new. All smiles.
And, please cross your fingers that I haven’t somehow jinxed us by writing this☺️🤞🫣🤞
Love, Jess